


i could go on talking (or i could stop)

by problematiquefave



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Danny Mahealani Finds Out, Gen, Past Ethan/Danny Mahealani - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-10
Updated: 2019-03-10
Packaged: 2019-11-15 04:15:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18066404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/problematiquefave/pseuds/problematiquefave
Summary: Allison's invitation is vague but urgent. It could be a trap — her aunt was a serial killer, after all — but Danny accepts anyways.Or, in which Danny finds out abouteverything.





	i could go on talking (or i could stop)

**Author's Note:**

> Written for day 1 of Danny Shipping Week. The prompt was friendship. 
> 
> Kudos and comments are greatly appreciated!

A biting wind blows against his back, sending shivers running down his spine. Danny bites his lip and wonders, not for the first time that evening, why he’s here. Why he got in his car, drove to the edge of the town, and is now traipsing through the preserve on a set of vague directions he got in the library from Allison Argent.

They’re not friends. Friendly _acquaintances_ , sure – connected through Lydia, Jackson, and Scott – but not friends. He doesn’t know her well enough for that. He barely knows her at all, actually. Her family has become the talk of the town and her relationship with Scott was impossible not to notice but, other than that, Allison isn’t a blip on his radar. If they were a Venn diagram, they’re circles would only have a small overlap. And yet…

Here he is. Twigs snap under his feet, anxious thoughts run miles inside his head, and _god damn_ it’s cold for late September in California.

For what it’s worth, he doesn’t think he’s been lured out here to die. Has this town had a bad run recently? Yeah. Does he remember that her aunt Kate turned out to be a serial killer? Vividly. But the path she pointed him to is lit by fluorescent lamps with extensive signage directing him towards the parking lot, the lake, the picnic area, and the various hiking trails. Not out of the realm of possibility but the circumstances seem wrong.

Or maybe he’s the type of guy who’d be the first to die in a horror movie.

(He likes to think he’s not. Jackson seems more like the type.)

Whether or not he is, he doubts he’ll find out tonight. He rounds a bend in the trail and spots the picnic area. Tables are scattered across the grassy clearing, bathed in a yellow glow from the lamps. He spots Allison sitting at one beneath an awning. He notices that she’s changed since school, putting on something more weather appropriate; he also sees that she’s intently focused on her phone – so intent she doesn’t realize he’s there until he’s standing over the table.

A bright smile spreads across her face as she motions for him to sit down. “Glad you could come,” she says as he sits.

“Yeah…” he murmurs, not nearly as upbeat as her. “You said it was important.” _Implied_ that he’d regret not coming.

“It is. It’s…” She sucks in a deep breath. Danny watches the way her brow creases and her lips curl at the corners. She meets his eyes – her gaze is as cold as ice, the earlier warmth having disappeared into the night. “Look, what I’m going to tell you will sound like bullshit. You’ll think I’m playing a joke on you but I’m not. I’m doing this to help you because no one else wants to. Whatever I have to do to prove it, I will.”

Okay… Maybe he _is_ in a horror movie. Her speech, which she delivers with a deathly seriousness, would fit right into one. He nods, not trusting himself to say anything but snark.

She blinks at him for a second but nodding back. “Werewolves are real.”

It doesn’t even register at first. Then the seconds tick by, filled with excruciating silence, and one by one they do. _Werewolves. Are. Real._

Danny doesn’t laugh. He’s just not that type – that’s more of a Jackson or Stiles approach. Confronted with a joke, no matter how seriously said, they’d burst into unending laughter. No, he just raises an eyebrow at Allison, incredulity etched into his features.

“That’s a good joke.”

“It’s not a joke.”

Danny bites his lip, holding back a response as Allison reaches for something beside her. She places a backpack on the table and pulls out a thin, silver laptop. He watches as she opens it, picking at the keyboard until she finds what she wants and spins it around for him to see.

She’s pulled up a set of scans – pages from an old journal he realizes, noticing the yellow, cracked appearance to the edges and the blotted, looping handwriting. He squints to read them. It’s describing a monster. There’s no mistaking it. But… He looks back up at Allison. “Is this supposed to mean something?” he asks.

“It’s a bestiary. It’s not the original but that one is in archaic Latin; this one is from 1843, transcribed by my great, great, great, great something uncle,” she explained. “My family are hunters. The Argents are one of the oldest families; we _were_ one of the most renowned. We had a code – hunt those who hunt us – but my aunt, my mom, and my grandfather used that to hurt innocent people. Innocent _werewolves_. Kate burned the Hale family alive, my mom tried to kill Scott because we dated, and my grandfather tried to start a war so he could trap an alpha that would bite him to cure his cancer. Now we have a new code; we protect those who cannot protect themselves.”

Danny closes his eyes, pressing his palm against his forehead as he tries to soak in what she’s saying. According to her, werewolves are real, she’s a werewolf hunter, and a lot of shit has gone down.

It takes him a moment to speak but, when he does, he asks, “Why are you telling me this?”

“Like I said, we protect those who cannot protect themselves. I think one way to protect you is to tell you the truth,” she answers. “Those cougar attacks last semester were werewolf attacks – Peter Hale killed his niece, became alpha, and killed people on his path to revenge. On his path to my aunt.

“Then, there was Matt. He controlled what is called a kanima. A shapeshifter takes the shape of what it most reflects but a kanima is a creature without an identity. It was Jackson. When Matt died, my grandfather controlled him. He used him to lure Derek Hale, who became the alpha after killing Peter, to him. He planned to kill Derek after receiving the bite and become an alpha himself but Scott switched his pills with mountain ash which is poison to werewolves.

“And this past month, we were dealing with an alpha pack and a darach. The latter is dark druid – it was Ms. Blake who sacrificed a dozen people to try and gain more power. She was trying to kill the alpha pack and the alpha pack was trying to lure in Derek and Scott. Scott’s a werewolf too, and what they call a true alpha. He’s an alpha who rose to that station by sheer willpower, not by killing. She’s dead and the alpha pack is gone. Ennis and Kali are dead, Deucalion is on a path of atonement, and… Ethan and Aiden are betas.”

“Ethan?”

She nods. “That’s why you need to know. Because the alpha pack targeted you – you were close enough to us to be deemed valuable. Aiden went after Lydia, Ethan went after you.” She paused for a moment before adding, “I guess, after a bit, Ethan’s feelings became genuine. He started to question his pack and convinced Aiden to defect with him.”

His gaze drops to the table, tracing the grooves in the wood with his eyes. “Ethan’s gone. Left a message saying he and his brother had to ‘find themselves.’” He looks back up. “So I guess that doesn’t matter anymore.”

“Maybe, maybe not. But it wasn’t just Ethan – you knew Matt and Jackson. You were Jackson’s best friend. Stiles uses you when we needs tech support for all of this. You’re involved – it’s just that no one bothered to tell you that you were. So… Here we are.”

Danny is at a loss for words. What do you say to all that? It sounds like some YA paranormal crap, like it should be on the shelf next to Twilight. But Allison is dead serious with a gaze as sharp as knives. He runs a hand through his hair, scratching the back of his neck as he tries to find something – _anything_ – to say in response.

It’s not much but… “Thanks?” he offers, sounding less enthusiastic and more like he’s not even sure he’s awake.

“You don’t have to believe me,” she replies, cutting through his bullshit like softened butter. “Just pay attention. Look around you. This town is a beacon to the supernatural. If you want to see it, you will. And if you don’t, I can’t make you but at least I’ve given you the option.”

She grabs her computer, drawing it towards her and closing it. She slips it back into her bag and hoists it over her shoulder just as she gets up. He looks up at her, lips pressed tightly together. “Goodnight Danny,” she says before turning on her heel and walking off into the darkness. He follows her with his eyes until he can’t see her anymore.

And then…

And then he’s left alone in the darkness with the newfound knowledge that there are really, truly things that go bump in it.


End file.
